title: Serum YKL-40 levels in acute appendicitis.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Acute appendicitis is one of the most common abdominal emergencies. The clinical diagnosis is often difficult even for experienced surgeons, however, as evidenced by the high rate of negative explorations. A delay in diagnosis of acute appendicitis is associated with increased risk of perforation and further complications. The aim of the present study was to assess the preoperative YKL-40 levels on for a clinical suspicion of acute appendicitis.
  
  
  METHODS
  Between August 2008 and December 2008, a total of 34 patients who underwent appendectomy with a clinical diagnosis of acute appendicitis were studied. Patients underwent appendectomy with the preoperative diagnosis of acute appendicitis. The appendix specimens were classified as normal appendix (group 1; 10 patients), acute appendicitis (group 2; 24 patients). Serum YKL-40 levels were determined by a commercial ELISA.
  
  
  RESULTS
  The levels of serum YKL-40 were significantly higher in the group 2 compared with the group 1 (66.4 +/- 13.2 vs 41.6 +/- 11.6 ng/mL, p < 0.001). Receiver operating characteristic curves of YKL-40 levels counts was on a statistically significant level (area under the curve [AUC] = 0.926, p < 0.001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  YKL-40 may be a useful marker for diagnosis of acute appendicitis but the number of subjects was limited in this study, future studies are required to confirm the results presented here (Fig. 1, Ref. 13).
authors.affiliation: Fifth Department of General Surgery, Ankara Numune Training and Research Hospital, Ankara, Turkey. mesuttez@yahoo.com
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koc
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Zulfikaroglu
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Kemal Isman
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ozalp
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Acar
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Kucur
mesh_terms: D054392:Adipokines; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001064:Appendicitis / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D000071451:Chitinase-3-Like Protein 1; D005260:Female; D006023:Glycoproteins / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D037102:Lectins / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D055815:Young Adult
chemical_list: D054392:Adipokines; D015415:Biomarkers; C084533:CHI3L1 protein, human; D000071451:Chitinase-3-Like Protein 1; D006023:Glycoproteins; D037102:Lectins